Merry Christmas to you and yours

Well, it's Christmas Eve. A very special time, and this year is one of the best I've ever had. My children are all here (some are asleep now); my parents are coming in tomorrow; I'm warming my feet by a nice space heater as I write this.

There's a fierce game of Monopoly going on upstairs (which bankrupted me first); we had a wonderful time of reading the Christmas story of the three magi (or wise men) in Matthew 2, followed by some extended carol singing.

Hot chocolate with marshmallows, some "puppy chow," and some Harry and David pears were consumed (rather greedily, I might add).

All this is because of the blessings of our Savior. Every gift we give is a shadow of the greatest gift of all, given some 2,000 years ago. The gifts of the magi were to foreshadow His role as Prophet, Priest, and King.

As we reflect on the gift that is offered, His assurance of eternal life, I want to wish you and your family warmest wishes for a wonderful celebration of Christ's birth. May you and yours be happy and fulfilled this season. This has been one of our best Christmases ever; may it be so for you.

-Richard

Study in Light

One day, I was playing with light. I wanted to get a look that vaguely resembled the old European masters in terms of their lighting. Thinking of ...what, a Vermeer?

It was a simple composition: a basket of vegetables. I wanted to show the color, the texture, and the interplay of all of them. This is what I came up with:



To do this, I decided to use a single lighting source (in this case, a single strobe with a colored gel), using barn doors and a honeycomb to give the light a directional feel.

It's an image that brings me pleasure. It's has just the feel I was looking for: the shapes play well off one another; the handle of the basket draws the composition together, and even the shadow of the handle falling across the vegetables adds a little depth. Putting a yellow gel on the strobe gave it a more timeless feel.

I'm going to have to play with this type of composition some more.

To this day, this is one of my favorite photos.

Walking down a trail

Sometimes to decompress, I'll take my lunch hour and go to a local trail and take a walk with my camera. This relaxes me, refines my vision, meets my own need to create images.

While walking down a trail the other day, I found this wonderful log covered with fungus. It's nothing particularly special for anyone else, but I just love this shot.

The LOOK

Usually, the best shots are the spontaneous ones. When doing a portrait of my kids for Christmas, I was trying to set up a nice shot with Christmas lights for the cards we create and send to loved ones. While shooting, I had the bright idea of having my son and daughter wrapped up in Christmas lights. I thought the colors and effect would be terrific.

While it was nice, it wasn't quite what I was hoping for. My son got a little antsy, and since my daughter was essentially tied to him, she gave him, the look.

I did think about making a Christmas card:

(The card reads, "Dear Santa, I really* would like: 1) A new bike; 2) More toys. * I know where you live.")

Then I thought, "Nahh, probably not."

Special Moment

I've had a personal philosophy as a photographer for quite some time: every face tells a story. This Thanksgiving we had a wonderful time together. During the day, my daughter and her grandpa (my dad) spent some time together. When I looked over, I saw this sight:



She had fallen asleep in "Papa's" arms! I think these two faces tell it all.

Comments Fixed

I was told today that it wasn't possible for most folks to post comments to the blog; my apologies. I've found the problem, and while the comments won't show until I OK it (to avoid spam), you can now easily leave your thoughts here.

More coming!